Communication terminal apparatus and image forming apparatus

ABSTRACT

A communication terminal apparatus capable of registering sender&#39;s e-mail addresses upon receiving e-mails including the e-mail address registration instruction information in the subject. The communication terminal apparatus relieves users from the cumbersome task of manually inputting the recipient&#39;s e-mail address to the e-mail address storage unit  17  and achieves simple e-mail address registration process in a shorter time. The communication terminal apparatus includes the subject determination unit  16  for detecting the e-mail address registration instruction information from a received e-mail, the e-mail parser  13  for acquiring the sender&#39;s e-mail address from the received e-mail, and the sender&#39;s e-mail address registration unit  18  for registering the sender&#39;s e-mail address of the received e-mail with the e-mail address storage unit  17  where the subject determination unit  16  detects the e-mail address registration instruction information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a communication terminal apparatus and animage forming apparatus capable of sending and receiving e-mails.

A multifunction device capable of sending and receiving e-mails as wellas scanning and forming images has a so-called scan-and-e-mail functionfor sending scanned image data as image files attached to an e-mail. Thescan-and-e-mail function is frequently used by users, and is one of thefunctions having high utility value. The scan-and-e-mail functionenables the user of the multifunction device to attach scanned imagedata as image files to an e-mail with the user's own e-mail addressspecified as the recipient's e-mail address Thus, the user can easilystore the received image files in a PC or server, forward the files, andas such.

The scan-and-e-mail function requires a document to be scanned for thegeneration of image data by the multifunction device and an e-mailaddress to be specified as the recipient's e-mail address with themultifunction device. To obtain the recipient's e-mail address,generally employed are methods such as follows: that the e-mail addressis directly input with the use of operation buttons provided with themultifunction device when the e-mail is sent; that e-mail addressesexpected to be specified as recipient's e-mail addresses are previouslystored in the multifunction device as an e-mail address list so that theuser may select a particular e-mail address from the list when thee-mail is sent, as described in the specification of Japanese PatentApplication Publication H05-316145; and that the user pushes a one-touchbutton previously setting a particular e-mail address with themultifunctional device.

With the direct input method as described above, however, the user isrequired to input a complicated e-mail address, character by character,in alphabet with the use of the operation buttons provided with themultifunction device. Even with the method of selecting an e-mailaddress from the list or the method of pushing the one-touch button, theuser is required to input complicated e-mail addresses, character bycharacter, in alphabet with the use of the operation buttons providedwith the multifunction device at the time of previously registeringe-mail addresses. That is, whichever of these prior art methods isemployed, the user is required to directly input e-mail addresses bypushing the operation buttons provided with the multifunction device.

This invention has been made to solve such problem that no matter whichof the above methods is employed, the user is required to inputcomplicated e-mail addresses, character by character, in alphabet bypushing the operation buttons provided with the multifunction device soas to specify a recipient's e-mail address.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a communication terminal apparatus, capable ofsending and receiving e-mails, including an e-mail address storage unitfor previously storing e-mail addresses that can be specified asrecipients' e-mail addresses, wherein the communication terminalapparatus comprises an instruction information detection unit fordetecting an e-mail address registration instruction information from areceived e-mail, an e-mail address acquisition unit for acquiring thesender's e-mail address from the received e-mail, and an e-mail addressregistration unit for registering the sender's e-mail address of thereceived e-mail with the e-mail address storage unit.

A user can register his or her e-mail address with the e-mail addressstorage unit of the communication terminal apparatus by sending ane-mail containing the instruction information in the subject to thecommunication terminal apparatus. This invention is advantageous inrelieving the user from a cumbersome task of inputting complicatede-mail addresses, character by character, in alphabet by pushing theoperation buttons, and realizing a simple registration process in ashorter time. Furthermore, mistakes in inputting e-mail addresses can beavoided, and a highly convenient multifunction device is provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description ofthe invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction withthe appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention,there are shown in the drawings embodiments which are presentlypreferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is notlimited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an entire structure of amultifunctional device according to the first embodiment of thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an overall operation of themultifunctional device according to the first embodiment of thisinvention;

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an e-mail received externally inthe first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of an e-mail parseraccording to the first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of a subject determinationunit according to the first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of a sender's e-mail addressregistration unit according to the first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of a control unit monitoringan e-mail address registration process according to the first embodimentof this invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of a received e-maildeletion unit according to the first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of an e-mail generation unitaccording to the first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of an e-mail sender unitaccording to the first embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing a registration completionnotification e-mail;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a structure of the multifunctiondevice according to the second embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a function of a display orderdetermination unit;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a displaying operation of themultifunction device according to the second embodiment of thisinvention;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a structure of the multifunctiondevice according to the third embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing an overall operation of themultifunction device according to the third embodiment of thisinvention;

FIG. 17 is a conceptual diagram showing an e-mail received externally inthe third embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the operation of the subjectdetermination unit according to the third embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the operation of a sender's e-mailaddress registration deletion unit according to the third embodiment ofthis invention;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unitmonitoring an e-mail address registration deletion process according tothe third embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the operation of the received e-maildeletion unit according to the third embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail generationunit according to the third embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail sender unitaccording to the third embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 24 is a conceptual diagram showing the registration deletioncompletion notification e-mail in the third embodiment of thisinvention;

FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing a structure of the multifunctiondevice according to the fourth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing an overall operation of the multifunctiondevice according to the fourth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 27 is a conceptual diagram showing an e-mail received externally inthe fourth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the operation of the subjectdetermination unit according to the fourth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing the operation of the sender's e-mailaddress registration unit according to the fourth embodiment of thisinvention;

FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unitmonitoring an e-mail address list generation process according to thefourth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 31 is a flowchart showing the operation of the received e-maildeletion unit according to the fourth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 32 is a flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail generationunit according to the fourth embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail sender unitaccording to the fourth embodiment of this invention; and

FIG. 34 is a conceptual diagram showing a print completion notificatione-mail in the fourth embodiment of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Particular embodiments according to this invention is hereinafterdescribed in details with reference to the figures.

The First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is the block diagram showing the structure of a multifunctiondevice according to the first embodiment of this invention. Amultifunction device 100 capable of sending and receiving e-mails aswell as scanning and forming images is structured as shown in FIG. 1.Components forming the multifunction device 100 and functions thereofare described hereinbelow.

In FIG. 1, an e-mail receiver unit 11 receives an e-mail from anexternal apparatus, not shown. An e-mail accumulation unit 12 is amemory to accumulate, i.e., hold, an e-mail received by the e-mailreceiver unit 11. An e-mail parser 13 receives the received e-mail fromthe e-mail accumulation unit 12, and parses content of the receivede-mail so as to extract therefrom a sender's e-mail address and asubject and to store the extracted sender's e-mail address in a sender'se-mail address accumulation unit 14 and the extracted subject in asubject accumulation unit 15. The sender's e-mail address accumulationunit 14 receives the sender's e-mail address from the e-mail parser 13and temporarily stores the e-mail address. The subject accumulation unit15 receives the subject from the e-mail parser 13 and temporarily storesthe subject.

The subject determination unit 16 determines whether the extractedsubject is the same as a subject previously registered with the subjectdetermination unit 16. Where the extracted subject is the same thereas,the subject determination unit 16 notifies the sender's e-mail addressregistration unit 18 of a registration instruction. An e-mail addressstorage unit 17 is a memory to additionally store a plurality of e-mailaddresses. The sender's e-mail address registration unit 18 registersthe sender's e-mail address with the e-mail address storage unit 17 uponreceiving the registration instruction from the subject determinationunit 16. A received e-mail deletion unit 21 deletes the received e-mailstored in the e-mail accumulation unit 12 upon receiving a notificationof e-mail address registration process completion, described later, froma control unit.

A control unit 22 controls the overall operation of the multifunctiondevice, and more particularly, in the present embodiment, the controlunit 22 monitors the e-mail address storage unit 17 upon receiving anotification of e-mail address registration process commencement fromthe subject determination unit 16, and notifies the received e-maildeletion unit 21 and an e-mail generation unit 31 of the e-mail addressregistration process completion when the sender's e-mail address hasbeen registered with the e-mail address storage unit 17. An operationunit 23 is an operation panel for a user to operate and giveinstructions to the multifunction device. A display unit 24, arranged onthe operation unit 23, is a display panel to display status andoperation result of the multifunction device, thus informing the userthereof. An image scanner unit 25 is an image scanning mechanism toretrieve image data from a document to be scanned.

An image generation unit 26 is a print engine mechanism for printing outprescribed image data. The e-mail generation unit 31 generates ane-mail. Particularly in the present embodiment, the e-mail generationunit 31, upon receiving the notification of e-mail address registrationprocess completion from the control unit 22, generates an e-mail to besent to the e-mail address, registered in the e-mail addressregistration process, with an attached transmission message fornotifying the e-mail address registration completion. The e-mail senderunit 32 sends the e-mail generated by the e-mail generation unit 31 to aprescribed recipient.

The operation of the multifunction device 100 according to the presentembodiment will be hereinafter described. FIG. 2 is the flowchartshowing the overall operation of the multifunction device of the firstembodiment. Steps S1 through S7 will be described in details in theorder of steps with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is the conceptualdiagram showing the e-mail received externally in the first embodimentof this invention.

The multifunction device 100 of the present embodiment receives, forexample, the e-mail shown in FIG. 3 from an external apparatus, nowshown, via the e-mail receiver unit 11. The received e-mail is stored inthe e-mail accumulation unit 12. The received e-mail can be displayed onthe display unit 24 upon operation of the operation unit 23, and can beprinted by the image forming unit 26. The received e-mail is transferredto the e-mail parser 13, and step S1, namely, the operation of thee-mail parser 13, is performed. The operation of step S1 will behereinafter described in details.

FIG. 4 is the flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail parseraccording to the first embodiment of this invention.

In step S1-1, the e-mail parser 13 extracts the sender's e-mail addressfrom the received e-mail. For example, the e-mail parser 13 extractsabcdefg@123.com from the e-mail shown in FIG. 3.

In step S1-2, the e-mail parser 13 stores the extracted sender's e-mailaddress in the sender's e-mail address accumulation unit 14.

Instep S1-3, the e-mail parser 13 determines whether the subject isincluded in the received e-mail. Where the subject is included therein,step S1-4 is proceeded to. Where not included, this flow is terminated.In the example of FIG. 3, the subject “MARR” is included.

In step S1-4, the e-mail parser 13 extracts the subject from thereceived e-mail. In the example, the subject “MARR” is extracted fromthe e-mail shown in FIG. 3.

In step S1-5, the e-mail parser 13 stores the subject extracted from thereceived e-mail in the subject accumulation unit 15, and then terminatesthis flow.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the subject determination unit 16 subsequentlytakes over the operation, and performs step S2, namely, the operation ofthe subject determination unit 16. Step S2 will be hereinafter describedin details. FIG. 5 is the flowchart showing the operation of the subjectdetermination unit according to the first embodiment of this invention

In step S2-1, the subject determination unit 16 monitors the subjectaccumulation unit 15 to see if the subject is stored therein. Where thesubject is detected therein, step S2-2 is proceeded to. The subject“MARR” should be detected in the e-mail shown in FIG. 3 in the example.

In step S2-2, the subject determination unit 16 determines whether thesubject is the same as the subject previously stored in the subjectdetermination unit 16. Where the subject is the same thereas, step S2-3is proceeded to. Where not, this flow is terminated. In the example,suppose that the subject “MARR”, which stands for “Mail AddressRegistration Requirement” meaning a request for e-mail addressregistration, is previously stored in the subject determination unit 16.In such case, the subject “MARR” of the e-mail shown in FIG. 3 is thesame as the previously stored subject “MARR”, and therefore, step S2-3is proceeded to.

In step S2-3, the subject determination unit 16 notifies the sender'se-mail address registration unit 18 of the registration instruction.

In step S2-4, the subject determination unit 16 further notifies thecontrol unit 22 of the e-mail address registration process commencement,and terminates this flow.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the sender's e-mail address registration unit18 subsequently takes over the operation, and performs step S3, namely,the operation of the sender's e-mail address registration unit 18. StepS3 will be hereinafter described in details. FIG. 6 is the flowchartshowing the operation of the sender's e-mail address registration unitaccording to the first embodiment of this invention.

In step S3-1, the sender's e-mail address registration unit 18 waits forreceiving the registration instruction from the subject determinationunit 16. Once receiving the registration instruction, step S3-2 isproceeded to.

In step S3-2, the sender's e-mail address registration unit 18additionally registers the sender's e-mail address in the sender'se-mail address accumulation unit 14 with the e-mail address storage unit17, and terminates this flow.

Referring back to FIG. 2, control unit 22 subsequently takes over theoperation, and performs step S4, namely, the operation of the controlunit 22 monitoring the e-mail address registration process, while theabove-mentioned step S3 is performed. Step S4 will be hereinafterdescribed. FIG. 7 is the flowchart showing the operation of the controlunit monitoring the e-mail address registration process according to thefirst embodiment of this invention.

In step S4-1, the control unit 22 waits for receiving the notificationof e-mail address registration process commencement from the subjectdetermination unit 16, and proceeds to step S4-2 upon receiving thenotification.

In step S4-2, upon receiving the notification, the control unit 22stands by monitoring the status of the e-mail address storage unit 17.The control unit 22 proceeds to step S4-3 upon detecting the completionof the e-mail address registration process for registration with thee-mail address storage unit 17.

In step S4-3, the control unit 22 notifies the received e-mail deletionunit 21 and the e-mail generation unit 31 of the e-mail addressregistration process completion, meaning that the sender's e-mailaddress has been additionally reregistered with the e-mail addressstorage unit 17, and terminates this flow.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the received e-mail deletion unit subsequentlytakes over the operation, and performs step S5, namely, the operation ofthe received e-mail deletion unit 21. Step S5 will be hereinafterdescribed in details. FIG. 8 is the flowchart showing the operation ofthe received e-mail deletion unit according to the first embodiment ofthis invention.

In step S5-1, the received e-mail deletion unit 21 waits for receivingthe notification of e-mail address registration process completion fromthe control unit 22, and proceeds to step S5-2 upon receiving thenotification.

In step S5-2, the received e-mail deletion unit 21 deletes the receivede-mail stored in the e-mail accumulation unit 12, and terminates thisflow.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the e-mail generation unit 31 takes over theoperation, and performs step S6, namely, the operation of the e-mailgeneration unit 31. Step S6 will be hereinafter described in details.FIG. 9 is the flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail generationunit according to the first embodiment of this invention.

In step S6-1, the e-mail generation unit 31 waits for receiving thenotification of e-mail address registration process completion from thecontrol unit 22, and proceeds to step S6-2 upon receiving thenotification.

In step S6-2, the e-mail generation unit 31 determines whether aprescribed transmission message is previously registered with the e-mailgeneration unit 31. Where the prescribed transmission message isregistered therewith, step S6-3 is proceeded to. Where not, this flow isterminated. For example, suppose that the transmission message “MailAddress Registration Process has finished”, meaning that the e-mailaddress registration has been finished, is previously registered withthe e-mail generation unit 31. In such case, step S6-3 is proceeded to.

In step S6-3, the e-mail generation unit 31 sets the recipient's e-mailaddress to the e-mail address stored in the sender's e-mail addressaccumulation unit 14.

In step S6-4, the e-mail generation unit 31 subsequently sets the bodyof the e-mail to the transmission message, and terminates this flow. Inthe example, the body of the e-mail is set to “Mail Address RegistrationProcess has finished”.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the e-mail sender unit 32 takes over theoperation, and performs step S7, namely, the operation of the e-mailsender unit 32. Step S7 will be hereinafter described in details. FIG.10 is the flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail sender unitaccording to the first embodiment of this invention.

In step S7-1, the e-mail sender unit 32 monitors the e-mail generationunit 31 to see if the e-mail to be sent is stored therein. Where thee-mail to be sent is stored therein, step S7-2 is proceeded to.

In step S7-2, the e-mail sender unit 32 determines whether therecipient's e-mail address has been set. Where the recipient's e-mailaddress has been set, step S7-3 is proceeded to. Where not, this flow isterminated.

In step S7-3, the e-mail sender unit 32 determines whether the body ofthe e-mail has been set. Where the body of the e-mail has been set, stepS7-4 is proceeded to. Where not, this flow is terminated.

In step S7-4, the e-mail sender unit 32 sends the e-mail in the e-mailgeneration unit 31 to the specified e-mail address. FIG. 11 is theconceptual diagram of the registration completion notification e-mail.More particularly, FIG. 11 is the conceptual diagram showing the e-mail,as the registration completion notification e-mail of registration withthe e-mail address storage unit 17, to be sent from the e-mail senderunit 32 to the specified e-mail address. The e-mail in FIG. 11 has therecipient's e-mail address and the sender's e-mail address having beenreplaced with each other when compared to the e-mail in FIG. 3, andfurthermore, the e-mail in FIG. 11 has the subject “Re: MARR” meaningthe completion of registration and the body of the e-mail “Mail AddressRegistration Process has finished”. “One-touch dial number” may also beadded to the subject or the body of the e-mail so as to register thee-mail address with the specified one-touch dial number such as “03”.

Accordingly, the multifunction device 100 according to the presentembodiment enables the user to have his or her e-mail addressautomatically registered with the e-mail address storage unit 17 of themultifunction device 100 by sending the e-mail containing the subject“MARR” from the user's e-mail system to the multifunction device 100where the user wants to register his or her e-mail address with thee-mail address storage unit of the multifunction device.

The multifunction device 100 according to the present embodiment of thisinvention stores in the e-mail address storage unit the sender's e-mailaddress of the received e-mail only if the subject of the receivede-e-mail contains “MARR” (instruction information). A systemadministrator of the multifunction device is thus relieved frominquiring of each sender of received e-mails whether or not e-mailaddresses thereof should be additionally registered when a large numberof unnecessary e-mail messages, such as spam mails, are received. Thatis, the multifunction device 100 does not indiscriminately registersender's e-mail addresses of received e-mails.

In order to register the e-mail address with the multifunction device100 according to the present embodiment of this invention, themultifunction device 100 has only to receive an e-mail containing theinstruction information, such as “MARR”, in the subject from the userwho wants to register his or her e-mail address. Therefore, the user canregister his or her e-mail address with the multifunction device 100 bysending a small size e-mail without relying on the body of the e-mail,and thus the multifunction device 100 alleviates the network load ofnetwork which e-mails for e-mail address registration pass through.

The multifunction device 100 according to the present embodiment of thisinvention deletes the received e-mail stored in the e-mail accumulationunit after completing the sender's e-mail address registration process.Consequently, the multifunction device 100 not only occupies smallermemory space for keeping received e-mails but also quickly goes into astatus ready to receive further e-mails.

The multifunction device 100 according to the present embodiment of thisinvention sends the registration completion notification e-mail to thesender's e-mail address after completing the sender's e-mail addressregistration process. Consequently, the user is enabled to easilyrecognize that a series of registration process has been finished.

As hereinabove described, the multifunction device 100 according to thepresent embodiment of this invention registers the user's own e-mailaddress with the e-mail address storage unit thereof where the usersends the e-mail containing the instruction information in the subjectto the multifunction device. Furthermore, the multifunction device 100relieves the user from a cumbersome task of inputting a complicatede-mail address through pushing the operation buttons, character bycharacter, in alphabet. Thus, the multifunction device 100 results in ahighly convenient multifunction device with shorter registration time,simpler registration process, and less likely to make mistakes ininputting the e-mail address since the multifunction device 100registers the user's e-mail address with the e-mail address storage unitthereof where the user sends the e-mail containing the instructioninformation in the subject to the multifunction device 100.

The Second Embodiment

Although not specifically shown in the first embodiment, e-mailaddresses stored in the e-mail address storage unit 17 (FIG. 1) aredisplayed in the display unit 24 (FIG. 1) sorted in alphabetical orderwhen the user requests to display an e-mail address list with the use ofthe operation unit 23 (FIG. 1) in the first embodiment. The user thenselects an e-mail address that the e-mail is to be sent to from thedisplayed e-mail address list with the use of a scroll function of theoperation buttons on the operation unit 23 (FIG. 1). With such e-mailaddress selection method, however, it may be troublesome for the user tospecify the recipient's e-mail address. Especially where the user hasregistered e-mail addresses having a prefix of v or w, the more e-mailaddresses are contained in the e-mail address list, it is the morelikely that the user finds it troublesome to select an e-mail address.

The second embodiment is structured to display the latest registerede-mail address at the top of the display unit where e-mail addresses arerequested to be displayed within less than the prescribed time after thee-mail address registration so that the e-mail address can be easilyselected where the user wants to use the e-mail address right after itsregistration. On the other hand, e-mail addresses are displayed inordinary alphabetical order where e-mail addresses are requested to bedisplayed not less the prescribed time after the e-mail addressregistration. The multifunction device according to the presentembodiment is structured as follows to achieve the above mentionedpurpose.

FIG. 12 is the block diagram showing the structure of the multifunctiondevice according to the second embodiment of this invention. Amultifunction device 200 capable of sending and receiving e-mails aswell as scanning and forming images is structured as shown in FIG. 12.As shown in FIG. 12, the multifunction device 200 includes aregistration time determination unit 42, an information selection unit43 for selecting information registered within the prescribed time, anda display order determination unit 44 in addition to those that themultifunction device 100 (FIG. 1) has. Furthermore, a register A, aregister B, and a register C are arranged in a control unit 41,corresponding to the control unit 22 (FIG. 1) of the first embodiment.The other components are the same as the first embodiment except theabove. Thus, only the components different from the first embodiment arehereinbelow described in details.

The control unit 41 controls the entire operation of the multifunctiondevice 200, and particularly in the present embodiment, the control unit41 includes the register A, the register B, and the register C in theinterior of the control unit 41 in addition to functions of the controlunit of the first embodiment. The register A keeps a time as to when thelatest registered e-mail address was registered with the e-mail addressstorage unit 17. The register B keeps a current time. The register Ckeeps the prescribed time which the register C is set to. The controlunit 41 performs a prescribed control program stored in a ROM, notshown, and initiates the registration time determination unit 42, theinformation selection unit 43, and the display order determination unit44.

The registration time determination unit 41 determines the time as towhen the e-mail address stored in the e-mail address storage unit 17 wasregistered. The information selection unit 43 determines (namely,selects the e-mail address) whether the e-mail address stored in thee-mail address storage unit 17 was registered within less than theprescribed time stored in the above mentioned register C before thecurrent time kept in the register B. The display order determinationunit 44 determines the order of the e-mail addresses stored in thee-mail address storage unit 17 based on prescribed rules as follows.

The prescribed rules are as follows. Rule 1: Where the registration timeof the latest registered e-mail address stored in the e-mail addressstorage unit 17 is within less than the prescribed time stored in theregister C before the current time, the latest registered e-mail addressis put at the top, and the rest of e-mail addresses are sorted inalphabetical order. Rule 2: Where the registration time of the latestregistered e-mail address stored in the e-mail address storage unit 17is not less than the prescribed time stored in the register C before thecurrent time, all the e-mail addresses are sorted in alphabetical order.

The display order determination unit 44 will be hereinafter describedwith reference to the figures. FIG. 13 is the diagram for explaining thefunction of the display order determination unit. TABLE A shows thee-mail address storage unit 17 (FIG. 12) displayed on the display unit24 (FIG. 12) as they are. TABLE B shows the e-mail address storage unit17 (FIG. 12) after a sort is performed based on the Rule 1 of theprescribed rules. TABLE C shows the e-mail address storage unit 17 aftera sort is performed based on the Rule 2 of the prescribed rules. InTABLE B and TABLE C, an e-mail address in an elongated circle is thelatest registered e-mail address.

As shown in TABLE A, the e-mail address list is displayed inalphabetical order regardless of the registration time of e-mail addresswhere the e-mail addresses stored in the e-mail address storage unit 17(FIG. 12) are displayed on the display unit 24 (FIG. 12) as they are. Asshown in TABLE B, where the latest registered e-mail address in theelongated circle was registered within less than the prescribed timestored in the register C before the current time, the latest registerede-mail address is displayed at the top and the rest of e-mail addressesare displayed in alphabetical order. As shown in TABLE C, where thelatest registered e-mail address in the elongated circle was registerednot less than the prescribed time stored in the register C before thecurrent time, all of the e-mail addresses are displayed in alphabeticalorder.

The operation of the multifunction device according to the secondembodiment will be hereinafter described. The multifunction device 200according to the present embodiment is capable of sending and receivinge-mails as well as scanning and forming images. The registration of thesender's e-mail address of the received e-mail, the deletion of thereceived e-mail from the accumulation unit, and the transmission of thee-mail address registration completion notification e-mail to thesender's e-mail address are the same as those of the first embodiment,and thus are omitted for brevity.

FIG. 14 is the flowchart showing the displaying operation of themultifunction device according to the second embodiment of thisinvention. The displaying operation of the multifunction device 200,including the operations of the registration time determination unit 42,the information selection unit 43, and the display order determinationunit 44, which are initiated and generated by the control unit 41, willbe described from step S5-1 to S5-9 in the order of steps with referenceto the FIG. 12.

Instep S5-1, the control unit 41, upon detecting the completion of thee-mail address registration process with the e-mail address storage unit17, waits for the display request of the e-mail address list from theuser via the control unit 23, and proceeds to step S5-2 upon receivingthe display request.

In step S5-2, the registration time determination unit 42 reads andsends to the control unit 41 the time as to when the latest registerede-mail address was registered with the e-mail address storage unit 17.

In step S5-3, the control unit 41 receives from the registration timedetermination unit 42 the time as to when the latest registered e-mailaddress was registered, and stores the registration time in the registerA.

In step S5-4, the control unit 41 reads out the current time from aclock in the control unit 41.

In step S5-5, the control unit 41 stores the current time in theregister B.

In step S5-6, the information selection unit 43 determines whether thelatest registered e-mail address was registered within less than theprescribed time, such as within less than 30 minutes, before the currenttime. Where the latest registered e-mail address was registered withinless than the prescribed time, step S5-7 is proceeded to. Where thelatest registered e-mail address was registered not less than theprescribed time, step S5-8 is proceeded to. That is, the differencebetween the register B and the register A is compared with the registerC. In the example, if the difference between the register B and theregister A is 15 minutes, step S5-7 is proceeded to. If the differenceis 45 minutes, step S5-8 is proceeded to.

In step S5-7, the display order determination unit 44 determines toarrange the latest registered sender's e-mail address at the top of thee-mail address storage unit 17, and sort the remaining e-mail addressesin alphabetical order.

On the other hand, in step S5-8, the display order determination unit 44determines to sort all the registered e-mail addresses in alphabeticalorder.

In step S5-9, the control unit 41 sorts the e-mail addresses in thee-mail address storage unit 17 based on the decision of the displayorder determination unit 44, and sends the sorted e-mail addresses tothe display unit 24 to have the display unit 24 display the sortede-mail addresses, and then terminates this flow. The result of thesorted e-mail addresses is shown in FIG. 13.

In the above example, although only a single latest registered e-mailaddress is arranged to be displayed at the top of the list, it may alsobe configured to display at the top of the list a plurality of all thee-mail addresses that have been newly registered within less than acertain time such as, e.g., 30 minutes before the display request uponsearching for such newly registered e-mail addresses. Such configurationmay be effective for a multifunction peripheral (MFP) used in a largeoffice.

As hereinabove described, the multifunction device according to thepresent embodiment displays the latest registered e-mail address at thetop when operated to display the e-mail addresses right after the e-mailaddress registration, and thus, the user who wants to select the e-mailaddress right after the user has registered the e-mail address isrelieved from a cumbersome task of searching for the e-mail address bypressing the operation buttons previously equipped with themultifunction device. Therefore, the user can register and use thee-mail address in a simple process in a shorter time as well as avoidmaking mistakes in inputting e-mail addresses. Thus, the presentembodiment provides a highly convenient multifunction device.

The Third Embodiment

In the first embodiment, the user sends the e-mail containing thesubject “MARR” from the user's e-mail system to the multifunction device100 (FIG. 1) so that the user's e-mail address is automaticallyadditionally registered with the e-mail address storage unit 17 (FIG. 1)where the user wants to register his or her e-mail address in the e-mailaddress storage unit 17 (FIG. 1). In an actual situation in which themultifunction device is used, the user may want to delete theregistration of e-mail address which was once registered. Taking suchsituation into account, the present embodiment has an e-mail addressregistration deletion function in addition to the functions of themultifunction device of the first embodiment. To achieve such purpose,the multifunction device according to the third embodiment is structuredas follows.

FIG. 15 is the block diagram showing the structure of the multifunctiondevice according to the third embodiment of this invention. Amultifunction device 300 capable of sending and receiving e-mails aswell as scanning and forming images is structured as shown in FIG. 15.Only functions of the multifunction device 300 which are added ordifferent from the first embodiment will be hereinafter described.Components having the same functions as the first embodiment are denotedby the same reference numerals as the first embodiment, and thedescription thereof is omitted for brevity.

Referring to FIG. 15, the subject determination unit 54 determineswhether the subject extracted by the e-mail parser 13 is the same as thesubjects contained in the subject determination unit 54. Where thesubject is the same thereas, the subject determination unit 54 gives theregistration instruction to the sender's e-mail address registrationunit 18, or a registration deletion instruction (newly added in thethird embodiment) to a sender's e-mail address registration deletionunit 56. The sender's e-mail address registration deletion unit 56deletes (newly added in the third embodiment) the registration of thesender's e-mail address from the e-mail address storage unit 17 uponreceiving the notification of registration deletion instruction (newlyadded in the third embodiment) from the subject determination unit 54. Areceived e-mail deletion unit 57 deletes the received e-mail stored fromthe e-mail accumulation unit 12 upon receiving the notification ofe-mail address registration process completion, as will be describedbelow, or a notification of e-mail address registration deletion processcompletion (newly added in the third embodiment), as will be describedbelow.

A control unit 58 controls the entire operation of the multifunctiondevice. The control unit 58 monitors the e-mail address storage unit 17upon receiving the notification of e-mail address registration processcommencement from the subject determination unit 54. The control unit58, upon finding that the sender's e-mail address has been registeredwith the e-mail address storage unit 17, notifies the received e-maildeletion unit 57 and an e-mail generation unit 59 of the e-mail addressregistration process completion. Furthermore, the control unit 58monitors the e-mail address storage unit 17 upon receiving thenotification of e-mail address registration deletion processcommencement (newly added in the third embodiment) from the subjectdetermination unit 54. The control unit 58, upon detecting that thesender's e-mail address has been deleted from the e-mail address storageunit 17, notifies the received e-mail deletion unit 57 and the e-mailgeneration unit 59 of the e-mail address registration deletion processcompletion (newly added in the third embodiment).

The e-mail generation unit 59 generates an e-mail. The e-mail generationunit 59, upon receiving the notification of e-mail address registrationprocess completion, generates the e-mail to be sent to the e-mailaddress registered in the e-mail address registration process with anattached message for the purpose of notifying the e-mail addressregistration completion. Furthermore, the e-mail generation unit 59,upon receiving the notification of e-mail address registration deletionprocess completion, generates the e-mail to be sent to the e-mailaddress whose registration has been deleted by the e-mail addressregistration deletion process with an attached message for the purposeof notifying the e-mail address registration deletion completion.

The multifunction device 300 according to the present embodiment of thisinvention will be hereinafter described. FIG. 16 is the block diagramshowing the overall operation of the multifunction device according tothe third embodiment of this invention. Step S21 trough step S27 will bedescribed in details in the order of steps with reference to FIG. 16.Please note that although the multifunction device 300 according to thepresent embodiment can perform the e-mail address registration just asthe multifunction device 100 according to the first embodiment, thee-mail address registration process is omitted from the belowdescription to avoid redundancy, and the below description will befocused on the e-mail address registration deletion process. FIG. 17 isthe conceptual diagram showing the e-mail received externally in thethird embodiment of this invention.

As shown in FIG. 16, the multifunction device 300 according to thepresent embodiment receives the e-mail shown in FIG. 17 from an externalapparatus, not shown, via the e-mail receiver unit 11. The receivede-mail is stored in the e-mail accumulation unit 12. The received e-mailcan be displayed on the display unit 24 and printed by the image formingunit 26 upon the operation of the operation unit 23. In such occasion,the received e-mail is transferred to the e-mail parser 13, and stepS21, namely, the operation of the e-mail parser 13, is performed. Theoperation of step S21 is omitted from the description as being the sameas step S1, namely, step S1-1 through step S1-5, which has already beendescribed in the first embodiment.

Referring back to FIG. 16, the subject determination unit 54 takes overthe operation, and performs step S22, namely, the operation of thesubject determination unit 54. Step S22 will be describe in details.FIG. 18 is the flowchart showing the operation of the subjectdetermination unit according to the third embodiment of this invention.

In step S22-1, the subject determination unit 54 monitors the subjectaccumulation unit 15 to see if the subject is stored therein. Thesubject determination unit 54 proceeds to step S22-2 upon detecting thesubject stored therein. In the example of FIG. 17, the subject “MARC”should be detected.

In step S22-2, the subject determination unit 54 determines whether thesubject is the same as the subject previously registered with thesubject determination unit 54. Where the subject is the same thereas,step S22-3 is proceeded to. Where not, this flow is terminated. In theexample, suppose that the subject “MARC”, which stands for “Mail AddressRegistration Clear” meaning a request for e-mail address registrationdeletion, is previously stored in the subject determination unit 54. Insuch case, the subject “MARC” of the e-mail shown in FIG. 17 is the sameas the previously stored subject “MARC”, and therefore, step S22-3 isproceeded to.

In step S22-3, the subject determination unit 54 notifies the sender'se-mail address registration deletion unit 56 of the registrationdeletion instruction.

In step S22-4, the subject determination unit 54 notifies the controlunit 58 of the e-mail address registration deletion process commencementmeaning that the process has started to delete the registration of thesender's e-mail address from the e-mail address storage unit 17, andterminates this flow.

Referring back to FIG. 16, the sender's e-mail address registrationdeletion unit 56 takes over the operation, and performs step S23,namely, the operation of the sender's e-mail address registrationdeletion unit 56. Step 23 will be described in details. FIG. 19 is theflowchart showing the operation of the sender's e-mail addressregistration deletion unit according to the third embodiment of thisinvention.

In step S23-1, the sender's e-mail address registration deletion unit 56waits for receiving the registration deletion instruction from thesubject determination unit 54, and proceeds to step S23-2 upon receivingthe registration deletion instruction.

In step S23-2, the sender's e-mail address registration deletion unit 56deletes the registration of the e-mail address stored in the sender'se-mail address accumulation unit 14 from the e-mail address storage unit17, and terminates this flow.

Referring back to FIG. 16, the control unit 58 takes over the operation.The step S24, namely, the operation of the control unit 58 monitoringthe e-mail address registration deletion process, is performed while theabove described step S23 is performed. Step S24 will be hereinafterdescribed in details. FIG. 20 is the flowchart showing the operation ofthe control unit monitoring the e-mail address registration deletionprocess according to the third embodiment of this invention.

In step S24-1, the control unit 58 waits for receiving the notificationof e-mail address registration deletion process commencement from thesubject determination unit 54, and proceeds to step S24-2 upon receivingthe notification.

In step S24-2, the control unit 58, upon receiving the notification,stands by monitoring the status of the e-mail address storage unit 17.The control unit 58 proceeds to step S24-3 upon detecting the completionof e-mail address registration deletion process for deletion from thee-mail address storage unit 17.

In step S24-3, the control unit 58 notifies the received e-mail deletionunit 57 and the e-mail generation unit 59 of the notification of e-mailaddress registration deletion process completion meaning that theregistration of the sender's e-mail address has been deleted from thee-mail address storage unit 17, and terminates this flow.

Referring back to FIG. 16, the received e-mail deletion unit 57 takesover the operation, and performs step S25, namely, the process of thereceived e-mail deletion unit 57. Step S25 will be hereinafter describedin details. FIG. 21 is the flowchart showing the operation of thereceived e-mail deletion unit according to the third embodiment of thisinvention.

In step S25-1, the received e-mail deletion unit 57 waits for receivingthe notification of e-mail address registration deletion processcompletion from the control unit 58, and proceeds to step S25-2 uponreceiving the notification.

In step S25-2, the received e-mail deletion unit 57 deletes the receivede-mail stored in the e-mail accumulation unit 12, and terminates thisflow.

Referring back to FIG. 16, the e-mail generation unit 59 takes over theoperation, and performs step S26, namely, the operation of the e-mailgeneration unit 59. Step S26 will be hereinafter described in details.FIG. 22 is the flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail generationunit 59 according to the third embodiment of this invention.

In step S26-1, the e-mail generation unit 59 waits for receiving thenotification of e-mail address registration deletion process completion,and proceeds to step S26-2 upon receiving the notification.

In step S26-2, the e-mail generation unit 59 determines whether aprescribed transmission message is registered with the e-mail generationunit 59. Where the prescribed transmission message is registeredtherewith, step S26-3 is proceeded to. Where not, this flow isterminated. For example, suppose that the transmission message, “MailAddress Clear Process has finished” meaning the completion of e-mailaddress registration deletion, is previously registered with the e-mailgeneration unit 59. In such case, step S26-3 is proceeded to.

In step S26-3, the e-mail generation unit 59 sets the recipient's e-mailaddress of the e-mail to the e-mail address stored in the sender'se-mail address accumulation unit 14.

In step S26-4, the e-mail generation unit 59 subsequently sets the bodyof the e-mail to the transmission message, and terminates this flow. Inthe example, the body of the e-mail is set to “Mail Address ClearProcess has finished”.

Referring back to FIG. 16, the e-mail sender unit 60 takes over theoperation, and performs step S27, namely, the process of e-mail senderunit 60. Step S27 will be hereinafter described in details. FIG. 23 isthe flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail sender unit accordingto the third embodiment of this invention.

In step S27-1, the e-mail sender unit 60 monitors the e-mail generationunit 59 to see if the e-mail to be sent is contained therein. Where thee-mail to be sent is contained therein, the e-mail sender unit 60proceeds to step S27-2.

In step S27-2, the e-mail sender unit 60 determines whether therecipient's e-mail address has been set. Where the recipient's e-mailaddress has been set, the e-mail sender unit 60 proceeds to step S27-3.Where the recipient's e-mail address has not been set, the e-mail senderunit 60 terminates this flow.

In step S27-3, the e-mail sender unit 60 determines whether the body ofthe e-mail has been set. Where the body of the e-mail has been set, thee-mail sender unit 60 proceeds to step S27-4. Where not, the e-mailsender unit 60 terminates this flow.

In step S27-4, the e-mail sender unit 60 sends the e-mail in the e-mailgeneration unit 59 to the specified recipient's address. FIG. 24 is theconceptual diagram showing the registration deletion completionnotification e-mail in the third embodiment of this invention. FIG. 24shows the conceptual diagram showing the e-mail, as the registrationdeletion completion notification e-mail of deletion of registration fromthe e-mail address storage unit 17, to be sent to the recipient's e-mailaddress specified by the e-mail sender unit 60. The e-mail in FIG. 24has the recipient's e-mail address and the sender's e-mail addresshaving been replaced with each other when compared to the receivede-mail in FIG. 17, and furthermore, the e-mail in FIG. 24 has thesubject “Re: MARC” meaning the completion of registration deletion andthe body “Mail Address Clear Process has finished”. “One-touch dialnumber” may also be added to the subject or the body of the e-mail so asto delete the registration of the specified one-touch dial number suchas “03”.

Accordingly, the multifunction device according to the presentembodiment enables the user to have the registration of his or here-mail address deleted from the e-mail address storage unit of themultifunction device by sending the e-mail containing the instructioninformation in the subject, which is different from that of the firstembodiment, to the multifunction device according to the presentembodiment. That is, the user can delete his or her e-mail addressregistered with the multifunction device upon sending an e-mail to themultifunction device. Thus, the user is relieved from the cumbersometask of deleting the registration of e-mail address by pushing theoperation buttons provided with the multifunction device. Therefore, themultifunction device according to the present embodiment enables e-mailaddress deletion in a shorter time and with a simple method, and ahighly convenient multifunction device is thus provided.

The Fourth Embodiment

In the first embodiment described above, the multifunction device 100 ismade to automatically register the user's e-mail address with the e-mailaddress storage unit 17 (FIG. 1) of the multifunction device 100(FIG. 1) upon receiving the e-mail containing the subject “MARR” sentfrom the user's e-mail system to the multifunction device 100 (FIG. 1)where the user wants to have his or her e-mail address registered withthe e-mail address storage unit 17 (FIG. 1) of the multifunction device100 (FIG. 1). Furthermore, the multifunction device 300 is made toautomatically delete the registration of the user's e-mail address fromthe e-mail address storage unit 17 (FIG. 15) of the multifunction device300 (FIG. 15) upon receiving the e-mail containing the subject “MARC”sent from the user's e-mail system to the multifunction device 300(FIG. 1) where the user wants to delete the registration of his or here-mail address, previously registered with the e-mail address storageunit 17 (FIG. 15), from the e-mail address storage unit 17 (FIG. 15). Inthe fourth embodiment, the multifunction device is enabled to print outthe e-mail address list of e-mail addresses previously stored in thee-mail address storage unit 17 so that the user can review the e-mailaddress list prior to the registration (described in the firstembodiment) or the deletion of registration. Such multifunction deviceaccording to the fourth embodiment of this invention is structured asfollows.

FIG. 25 is the block diagram showing the structure of the multifunctiondevice according to the fourth embodiment of this invention. Amultifunction device 400 capable of sending and receiving e-mails aswell as scanning and forming images is structured as shown in FIG. 25.Only functions of the multifunction device 400 which are added ordifferent from the first embodiment will be hereinafter described.Components having the same functions as the first embodiment are denotedby the same reference numerals as the first embodiment, and thedescription thereof is omitted for brevity.

In FIG. 25, a subject determination unit 71 determines whether thesubject extracted by the e-mail parser 13 is the same as the subjectpreviously registered with the subject determination unit 71. Where thesubject extracted is the same thereas, the subject determination unit 71gives the registration instruction to the sender's e-mail addressregistration unit 18. For example, suppose that the subject extracted is“MALP” which stands for “Mail Address List Print”. In such case, thesubject determination unit 71 gives a list generation instruction to alist generation unit 72 (newly added in the fourth embodiment). The listgeneration unit 72 (newly added in the fourth embodiment), uponreceiving the list generation instruction from the subject determinationunit 71, generates the e-mail address list of e-mail addresses stored inthe e-mail address storage unit 17, and have an image forming unit 75print out the e-mail address list.

An e-mail generation unit 73 generates an e-mail. Particularly in thepresent embodiment, the e-mail generation unit 73, upon receiving anotification of e-mail address list generation process completion,generates the e-mail to be sent to the e-mail address stored in thesender's e-mail address registration unit 18 with an attached messagefor the purpose of notifying that the e-mail address list has beenprinted out. The e-mail sender unit 74 sends the e-mail generated by thee-mail generation unit 73 to the prescribed recipient's address.

The image forming unit 75 is a print engine mechanism to print outprescribed image data. Particularly in the present embodiment, the imageforming unit 75 outputs the e-mail address list based on the instructionof the list generation unit 72. A control unit 76 controls the entireoperation of the multifunction device. Particularly in the presentembodiment, the control unit 76, upon receiving a notification of e-mailaddress list generation process commencement, monitors the image formingunit 75 to see if the e-mail address list has been printed. If thee-mail address list has been printed, the control unit 76 notifies thereceived e-mail deletion unit 21 and the e-mail generation unit 73 ofthe e-mail address list generation process completion.

The multifunction device 400 according to the present embodiment of thisinvention will be hereinafter described. FIG. 26 is the flowchartshowing the overall operation of the multifunction device according tothe fourth embodiment of this invention. Step S31 through step S37 willbe described in details in the order of steps with reference to FIG. 25.Please note that although the multifunction device 400 according to thepresent embodiment can perform the e-mail address registration just asthe multifunction device 100 according to the first embodiment, thee-mail address registration process is omitted from the belowdescription to avoid redundancy, and the below description will befocused on the e-mail address list generation process. FIG. 27 is theconceptual diagram showing the e-mail received externally in the fourthembodiment of this invention.

The multifunction device 400 according to the present embodiment of thisinvention receives an e-mail shown in FIG. 27 from an externalapparatus, not shown, via the e-mail receiver unit 11. The receivede-mail is stored in the e-mail accumulation unit 12. The received e-mailcan be displayed on the display unit 24 and printed by the image formingunit 75 upon the operation of the operation unit 23. The received e-mailis transferred to the e-mail parser 13, and step S31, namely, theoperation of the e-mail parser 13, is performed. Step S31 is the same asstep S1, namely, step S1-1 through step S1-5, described in the firstembodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted for brevity.

Referring back to FIG. 26, the subject determination unit 71 takes overthe operation, and performs step S32, namely, the operation of thesubject determination unit 71. Step S32 will be hereinafter described indetails. FIG. 28 is the flowchart showing the operation of the subjectdetermination unit according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

In step S32-1, the subject determination unit 71 determines whether thesubject is the same as the subject previously registered with thesubject determination unit 71. Where the subject is the same thereas,step S32-3 is proceeded to. Where not, this flow is terminated. Supposethat the subject “MALP”, which stands for “Mail Address List Print”, ispreviously stored in the subject determination unit 71. In such case,the subject “MALP” of the e-mail shown in FIG. 27 is the same as thepreviously stored subject “MALP”, and therefore, step S32-3 is proceededto.

In step S32-3, the subject determination unit 71 notifies the listgeneration unit of the list generation instruction.

In step S32-4, the subject determination unit 71 notifies the controlunit 76 of the e-mail address list generation process commencement,meaning that the process for generation the e-mail address list hasstarted, and terminates this flow.

Referring back to FIG. 26, the sender's e-mail address registration unit18 takes over the operation, and performs step S33, namely, theoperation of the sender's e-mail address registration unit 18. Step S33will be hereinafter described in details. FIG. 29 is the flowchartshowing the operation of the sender's e-mail address registration unitaccording to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

In step S33-1, the sender's e-mail address registration unit 18 standsby keeping the e-mail address in the sender's e-mail addressaccumulation unit 14.

Referring back to FIG. 26, the control unit 76 takes over the operation,and performs step S34, namely, the operation of the control unit 76monitoring the e-mail address list generation process, from the e-mailaddress list generation process commencement to the e-mail address listgeneration process completion. Step S34 will be hereinafter described indetails. FIG. 30 is the flowchart showing the operation of the controlunit monitoring the e-mail address list generation process according tothe fourth embodiment of this invention.

In step S34-1, the control unit 76 waits for receiving the notificationof e-mail address list generation process commencement from the subjectdetermination unit 71, and proceeds to step S34-2 upon receiving thenotification.

In step S34-2, the control unit 76, upon receiving the notification,stands by monitoring the image forming unit 75. The control unit 76proceeds to step S34-3 upon detecting the completion of e-mail addresslist generation process.

In step S34-3, the control unit 76 terminates this flow upon notifyingthe received e-mail deletion unit 21 and the e-mail generation unit 73of the e-mail address list generation process completion meaning thatthe sender's e-mail address list has been printed by the image formingunit 75.

Referring back to FIG. 26, the received e-mail deletion unit 21 takesover the operation, and performs step S35, namely, the operation of thereceived e-mail deletion unit 21. Step S35 will be hereinafter describedin details. FIG. 31 is the flowchart showing the operation of thereceived e-mail deletion unit according to the fourth embodiment of thisinvention.

In step S35-1, the received e-mail deletion unit 21 waits for receivingthe notification of e-mail address list generation process completionfrom the control unit 76, and proceeds to step S35-2 upon receiving thenotification.

In step S35-2, the received e-mail deletion unit 21 terminates this flowupon deleting the received e-mails stored in the e-mail accumulationunit 12.

Referring back to FIG. 26, the e-mail generation unit 73 takes over theoperation, and performs step S36, namely, the operation of the e-mailgeneration unit 73. Step S36 will be hereinafter described in details.FIG. 32 is the flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail generationunit according to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

In step S36-1, the e-mail generation unit 73 waits for the notificationof e-mail address list generation process completion from the controlunit 76, and proceeds to step S36-2 upon receiving the notification.

In step S36-2, the e-mail generation unit 73 determines whether aprescribed transmission message is previously stored in the e-mailgeneration unit 73. Where the prescribed message is stored therein, stepS36-3 is proceeded to. Where not, this flow is terminated. For example,suppose that a message “Your Printing Requirement has finished”, meaningthat the e-mail address list has been printed, is previously stored inthe e-mail generation unit 73 as a transmission message. In such case,it is proceeded to step S36-3.

In step S36-3, the e-mail generation unit 73 sets the recipient's e-mailaddress of the e-mail to the e-mail address stored in the sender'se-mail address registration unit 18, as described in step S33-1.

In step S36-4 the e-mail generation unit 73 terminates this flow uponsetting the body of the e-mail to the transmission message. For example,the body of the e-mail is set to “Your Printing Requirement hasfinished”.

Referring back to FIG. 26, the e-mail sender unit 74 takes over theoperation, and performs step S37, namely the operation of the e-mailsender unit 74. Step S37 will be hereinafter described in details. FIG.33 is the flowchart showing the operation of the e-mail sender unitaccording to the fourth embodiment of this invention.

In step S37-1, the e-mail sender unit 74 monitors the e-mail generationunit 73 to see if the e-mail to be sent is contained therein. Where thee-mail to be sent is contained therein, S37-2 is proceeded to.

In step S37-2, the e-mail sender unit 74 determines whether therecipient's address has been set. Where the recipient's address has beenset, it is proceeded to step S37-3. Where not, this flow is terminated.

In step S37-3, the e-mail sender unit 74 determines whether the body ofthe e-mail has been set. Where the body of the e-mail has been set, itis proceeded to step S37-4. Where not, this flow is terminated.

In step S37-4, the e-mail sender unit 74 sends the e-mail in the e-mailgeneration unit 73 to the specified e-mail address. FIG. 34 is theconceptual diagram showing the print completion notification e-mail inthe fourth embodiment of this invention. More particularly, FIG. 34 isthe conceptual diagram showing the e-mail to be sent to the e-mailaddress specified by the e-mail sender unit 74 as the e-mail fornotifying that the e-e-mail address list has been printed. The e-mail inFIG. 34 has the recipient's e-mail address and the sender's e-mailaddress having been replaced with each other when compared to the e-mailin FIG. 27, and furthermore, the e-mail in FIG. 34 has the subject “Re:MALP” meaning the completion of printing and the body “Your PrintingRequirement has finished”.

As hereinabove described, the fourth embodiment enables the user toprint out the e-mail address list stored in the e-mail address storageunit 17 and to review the e-mail address list before the useradditionally registers (as described in the first embodiment) or deletesthe registration (as described in the second embodiment) of the user'sown e-mail address. Thus, a highly convenient multifunction device isprovided.

In the first embodiment, the subject determination unit 16 (FIG. 1) hasa function to determine whether the subject extracted from the receivede-mail is the same as the previously registered subject, registered by asubject registration function, and to register the sender's e-mailaddress with the e-mail address storage unit 17 (FIG. 1). However, themultifunction device can also be easily configured to allow the body ofthe e-mail, instead of the subject, to include the instructioninformation so as to achieve a similar function where the instructioninformation extracted from the body of the received e-mail is the sameas the previously registered instruction information. Furthermore,although alphabetical letters, such as “MARR”, in the subject arerecognized in the described embodiments, it can also be configured touse characters and marks, such as, e.g., a star and a black circle, toobtain a similar function.

In the second embodiment, the e-mail addresses are displayed inalphabetical order. However, it can also be easily configured to enableto the e-mail address list to be sorted in reverse alphabetical order,in the order of e-mail address registration time, in the reverse orderthereof, in Japanese hiragana order, or in the order of vowels orconsonants previously defined in each country.

In the third embodiment, the subject determination unit 54 (FIG. 15) hasa function to determine whether the subject extracted from the receivede-mail is the same as the previously registered subject, registered bythe subject registration function, and to delete the registration ofsender's e-mail address from the e-mail address storage unit 17 (FIG.15). However, the multifunction device can also be easily configured toallow the body of the e-mail, instead of the subject, to include theinstruction information so as to achieve a similar function where theinstruction information extracted from the body of the received e-mailis the same as the previously registered instruction information.

Although this invention is herein described where the invention isapplied to the multifunction device capable of reading and formingimages, this invention is not limited to the described embodiment. Thatis, this invention can be applied to any communication terminalapparatuses having a function to send and receive e-mails.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could bemade to the embodiments described above without departing from the broadinventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that thisinvention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but itis intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of thepresent invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A communication terminal apparatus, capable of sending and receivingan e-mail, including an e-mail address storage unit previously storingan e-mail address that can be specified as a recipient's e-mail address,the communication terminal apparatus comprising: an instructioninformation detection unit for detecting an e-mail address registrationinstruction information from a received e-mail; an e-mail addressacquisition unit for acquiring a sender's e-mail address from saidreceived e-mail; and an e-mail address registration unit for registeringsaid sender's e-mail address of said received e-mail with said e-mailaddress storage unit where said instruction information detection unitdetects said e-mail address registration instruction information fromsaid received e-mail.
 2. The communication terminal apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein said e-mail address registration instructioninformation is in a subject area of said received e-mail.
 3. Thecommunication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saide-mail address registration instruction information is made ofprescribed letters.
 4. The communication terminal apparatus according toclaim 1 further comprising an e-mail deletion unit for deleting saidreceived e-mail upon receiving an e-mail address registration completionnotification from said e-mail address registration unit.
 5. Thecommunication terminal apparatus according to claim 1 further comprisingan e-mail sender unit for sending a registration completion e-mail to asender of said received e-mail upon receiving an e-mail addressregistration completion notification from said e-mail addressregistration unit.
 6. The communication terminal apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said e-mail address registration unit, upon receivingan e-mail including only a subject and said sender's e-mail address,registers said sender's e-mail address with said e-mail address storageunit.
 7. An image forming apparatus comprising the communicationterminal apparatus according to claim
 1. 8. A communication terminalapparatus including an information storage unit for previously storing aplurality of recipient's information that can be specified as arecipient's e-mail address and a display unit for displaying saidrecipient's information in a prescribed order, the communicationterminal apparatus comprising: an instruction information detection unitfor detecting an information registration instruction information from areceived e-mail; an information acquisition unit for acquiringregistration information from said received e-mail; and an informationregistration unit for registering said registration information of saidreceived e-mail with said information storage unit where saidinstruction information detection unit detects said informationregistration instruction information from said received e-mail, whereinsaid display unit first displays said registration informationregistered within a prescribed period where said registrationinformation is requested to be displayed.
 9. The communication terminalapparatus according to claim 8 further comprising a display orderdetermination unit for displaying said recipient's information in saidinformation storage unit in alphabetical order.
 10. The communicationterminal apparatus according to claim 8 further comprising a displayorder determination unit for displaying said recipient's information insaid information storage unit in order of registration time.
 11. Thecommunication terminal apparatus according to claim 8 further comprisinga display order determination unit for displaying said recipient'sinformation in said information storage unit in order of Japanesesyllabary.
 12. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 8further comprising a display order determination unit for displayingsaid recipient's information in said information storage unit in orderof a syllabary defined in each country.
 13. An image forming apparatuscomprising the communication terminal apparatus according to claim 8.14. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 1, whereinsaid instruction information detection unit further detects an e-mailaddress deletion instruction information from said received e-mail, andwherein said communication terminal apparatus further comprises ane-mail address deletion unit for deleting, from said e-mail addressstorage unit, said sender's e-mail address acquired by said e-mailaddress acquisition unit where said instruction information detectionunit detects said e-mail address deletion instruction information. 15.The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 14, wherein saide-mail address deletion instruction information is in a subject area ofsaid received e-mail.
 16. The communication terminal apparatus accordingto claim 14, wherein said e-mail address deletion instructioninformation is made of prescribed letters.
 17. The communicationterminal apparatus according to claim 14 further comprising an e-maildeletion unit for deleting said received e-mail upon receiving an e-mailaddress deletion completion notification from said e-mail addressdeletion unit.
 18. The communication terminal apparatus according toclaim 14 further comprising an e-mail sender unit for sending a deletioncompletion e-mail to a sender of said received e-mail upon receiving ane-mail address deletion completion notification from said e-mail addressdeletion unit.
 19. The communication terminal apparatus according toclaim 14, wherein said e-mail address deletion unit, upon receiving ane-mail including only a subject and said sender's e-mail address,deletes said sender's e-mail address from said e-mail address storageunit.
 20. An image forming apparatus comprising the communicationterminal apparatus according to claim
 14. 21. The communication terminalapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said instruction informationdetection unit further detects, from said received e-mail, a listrequest information for requesting a list of e-mail address stored insaid e-mail address storage unit, and wherein said communicationterminal apparatus further comprises a list generation unit forgenerating said list of e-mail address wherein said instructioninformation detection unit detects said list request information. 22.The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 21, wherein saidlist request information is in a subject area of said received e-mail.23. The communication terminal apparatus according to claim 21, whereinsaid list request information is made of prescribed letters.
 24. Thecommunication terminal apparatus according to claim 21 furthercomprising an e-mail deletion unit for deleting said received e-mailupon receiving a list generation completion notification from said listgeneration unit.
 25. The communication terminal apparatus according toclaim 21 further comprising an e-mail sender unit for sending a listgeneration completion e-mail to a sender of said received e-mail uponreceiving a list generation completion notification from said listgeneration unit.
 26. An image forming apparatus comprising thecommunication terminal apparatus according to claim 21.